Acquitted: A Kenyan journalist struggles to report freely

A court
in Kisumu, western Kenya, recently acquitted journalist Bernard Okebe, at left, of graft
charges after a two and a half year case against him. While the case is finally
over, Okebe is still dealing with the fallout of being accused of blackmail.

In December 2008, the police chief of Nyamira, a town in western Kenya, accused Okebe of bribing him. Police Chief Lawrence Njoroge alleged that Okebe had demanded 15,000 Kenyan shillings (US$175) to stop him from publishing a damaging article against him.

A
reporter with the The People and
later The Financial Post, Okebe was
following a story about a complaint letter written by a local businessman to
the former police commissioner, Hussein
Ali. The letter, which Okebe reviewed at the commissioner's headquarters,
alleged that the Nyamira police chief had demanded a 20,000 Kenyan shilling
(US$234) bribe from the local businessman to continue his business in Nyamira,
Okebe told me.

The
Nyamira police chief called Okebe to his office after the reporter phoned him
for comment back in December 2008. When he arrived, Okebe alleged something twisted
occurred: "Njoroge pointed a gun at me and ordered me to count some money he
had spread across his desk," he said. "Immediately, four police officers
arrested me claiming I had attempted to bribe Njoroge with the cash." The
police detained him overnight at the Kisumu police station and was arraigned in
Kisumu Court the following day. Okebe
was fighting the case ever since.

Local
journalists who have followed the case said from the beginning that Njoroge
never managed to bring any evidence against Okebe, and that his witnesses often
brought conflicting evidence. Principal Magistrate Kimwele Muneeni ruled there
was no evidence linking Okebe to soliciting and receiving a bribe, according to
local reports.

"This
was clearly an abusive prosecution, launched with the sole aim of silencing
Bernard Okebe," said Peter Noorlander from the London-based nongovernmental Media Legal Defense Initiative, which
helped with the journalist's defense. "There was simply no credible evidence against
Okebe and the decision to let the case against him go ahead was a clear abuse
of prosecutorial power."

While
Okebe is happy the case is over, it certainly took its toll on his professional
and personal life. Media houses relinquished employment opportunities after
hearing about the court case against him, he told me.

But
Okebe could have lost a lot more. In his defense statement, he said he feared
for his life after Njoroge pulled a gun on him: Okebe's late colleague Francis
Nyaruri was killed soon after publishing a corruption-related story about
the same officer. The January 2009 murder of the Weekly Citizen reporter Nyaruri remains
unresolved despite a directive by the attorney general in June 2009 to
investigate the potential role of Njoroge and other police officers in the
murder, according to CPJ research. Njoroge denied any involvement in Nyaruri's
murder in a 2009 interview with CPJ.

By
September 2010, Okebe said strange men started to follow him around his
hometown. Fearing for his life and family, Okebe moved out of town and moved
his wife and two children to another location.

Another
friend and colleague of Nyaruri faced similar threats. Nation contributor Samuel
Owida had investigated the Nyaruri murder case and published several
stories about it. By December 2010, Owida fled his home after receiving threatening
phone calls that he would "share Nyaruri's fate," he told me.

Despite
the arduous court case and threats against him, Okebe says the victory in court
has encouraged him to continue writing and continue advocating for change. "It
is challenging to report in western Kenya," Okebe told me. "Often reporters are
forced to change their writing simply to save themselves from the wrath of
local politicians and officials. Journalists are simply not able to report
freely."

Nyaruri's
widow, Josephine Nyaruri, is still looking for answers in the gruesome murder
of her husband. And Okebe and Owida are still cautious, routinely moving
locations separate from their family to ensure their safety. Meanwhile, the
former police chief of Nyamira was transferred to Turkana Central, in
northwestern Kenya. Although a remote post, he has managed to keep his position
despite all of the allegations placed against him.

Tom Rhodes is CPJ's East Africa representative, based in Nairobi. Rhodes is a founder of southern Sudan’s first independent newspaper. Follow him on Twitter: @africamedia_CPJ

This is a typical story of the hurdles that investigative journalits undergo. Infact, authorities and the brave press should further invetsigating the issue as we believe the reporter must have been investigating an issue that the police officer did not want to come out. Bravo Okebe, CPJ and all those who ahve been with the reporter in his struggle for the social justice in that countyry, Kenya.

As an organization that champions Human rights at the community level, we find the work of Journalist Bernard Very encouraging and we urge more journalits to take courage as Bernard so as to help the many achieve social justice. Infact, People like this reporter deserve praise and even award by relevant orgnizations. Kudos Bernard Okebe and the CPJ for highlighting this story from Kenya.